CIMIT Welcomes VA Boston Healthcare System as its 12th Consortium Member

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CIMIT has announced that VA Boston Healthcare System (VA BHS) has become its 12th Consortium Member. VA BHS is comprised of three campuses and six outpatient locations in the Boston area, and is a vital part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration. VA has a national patient population of 6 million, with about 400,000 Iraq veterans. VA BHS cares for a base of 65,000 patients with about 11,500 inpatient and 600,000 outpatient visits annually. VA BHS has one of the largest Research programs in VA.

VA BHS is a respected leader in medical research, as is CIMIT. Leaders from both organizations say that they are expecting exciting collaborations among researchers that could result in valuable medical breakthroughs for soldiers, veterans, and civilians.

CIMIT Executive Director John Parrish, MD, said, “We are pleased to welcome VA as part of the CIMIT family. It is a fine medical organization with an excellent research division, and by working with its doctors and researchers we feel that valuable innovation will result that will help both veteran and civilian patients.”

The addition of VA BHS underlines the fact that CIMIT is a growing national force in the field of fostering collaboration for innovative improvements in medical devices and clinical systems. It will position CIMIT to create productive relationships with large foundations and/or industries interested in soldier/veteran medicine. And because VA has created perhaps the nation’s most comprehensive electronic-medical records system, the collaboration could enable CIMIT researchers to access and develop valuable data.

CIMIT’s collaboration with VA BHS will provide VHA with valuable connections to top doctors, scientists and engineers while helping its researchers develop collaborations with principals at some of the most productive universities, engineering schools and medical centers of the region.

VA has been a national leader in medical innovation. Its research in the past has played a key role in developing the cardiac pacemaker, the CT scan, the first liver transplant and improvements in artificial limbs. VA clinical trials established the effectiveness of new treatments for tuberculosis, schizophrenia and high blood pressure.

VA BHS operates major programs in neurophysiology of mental illness, sleep disorders, and storage of organs prior to transplantation. It currently is the major VA referral center in New England for complex surgeries. It is also a major center for invasive cardiology, and maintains a large program in spinal injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder neurosciences.

Dr. Michael Charness, Chief of Staff at VA BHS, said, “VA Boston Healthcare System is pleased to become the newest member of CIMIT. VA has been a national leader in medical informatics and the creation of innovative systems of healthcare. CIMIT will foster valuable collaborations to help VA clinicians and scientists bring their ideas to the bedside.”

CIMIT is the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology. It is a Boston-based consortium dedicated to innovative research in medical devices and clinical systems, and members are Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, Boston University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Newton-Wellesley Hospital and Partners HealthCare. CIMIT also has one international affiliate, MIMIT, in Manchester, UK.

Colleen Kigin, chief of staff at CIMIT, said, “Bringing VA Boston Healthcare System into the CIMIT family represents a valuable addition to CIMIT. We welcome their doctors, researchers and staff members and look forward to many collaborative projects in the future.”